Canning in the new homestead-2 Pickle recipes for you! Pickle Soup and Mayo Rolls

So I canned some stuff at a friend's house from some peppers she had growing in her yard and didn't know what to do with. I ended up leaving them at her house for her when we moved from South Carolina to Minnesota.
I made Pickled Peppers. They are really good in Mexican foods and the juice is good when making soups. Once I even used the juices to marinate some meat for a roast. It made it more tender than it would have been, as it was a tough old cow. All in all, they were wonderful and I hope she enjoys the remaining jars. I used banana peppers, but you can use any type that you have. I will likely be doing jalapeños next year or even in the fall if my peppers all produce. ( I did plant about 15 plants.)

Pickled Peppers

(I didn't weigh the peppers so I do not know how many I had. I just chopped them all up into slices. But I did 2 batches of this. So we probably had 10-12lbs of peppers.)

Wash and prepare jars for canning. Boil all utensils and jars for sterilization purposes. 

• 4&1/2 pounds of sweet peppers and 1&1/2 hot peppers Or you can use all bananas like I did here 6 pounds total. 
• 6&1/2 C. White or ACV
• 1&1/3 C. Water
• 2/3C. sugar
• 4 Tsp. pickling salt
• 3 whole cloves garlic(I used 3 Tbsp. of minced garlic-previously prepared)

1. Cut all peppers into quarters or slices, if you are using long peppers it looks better. Remove stems, membranes and if desired seeds. (I leave them in because it is where the heat is stronger in peppers) 
2. (If using bells or you quartered the peppers, this does bring out the flavor in some peppers more.) Place cut side down, on a extra large baking sheet,lined with foil. Bake at 450F for 20 minutes. Place peppers in a brown paper bag to cool. Use paring knife to peel off skins. Slice. 
3. In a saucepan combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and garlic. Heat to boiling and reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. 
4. Place mixture of peppers into hot, clean pint canning jars, leaving 1/2 in head space. Pour liquid over peppers, leaving our 1/2 head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims;adjust lids.
5. Process jars in boiling-water canner for 15 minutes. Remove and cool overnight.

A few weeks ago, in our new house, I also made some dill pickles. I used small pickles from the farmer's market(because I've only been here a month!) and fresh dill. 

I can give you the recipe for this one as well.  My step-sister gave it to me and her pickles are always so wonderful. Plus, there are no food dyes or preservatives in the jars! 

 I made 3-1/2 gallon whole dills, 5- 1&1/2 pint whole dills and 5-1 pint sliced dills. Some of the jars I added a halved Thai pepper for some kick. Those Thai peppers were sold to me at a farmer's market, by a Hmong lady. I didn't know exactly how hot they were, so I ate one. WHOLE! My mouth was on fire and my eyes were watering. Big mistake! Huge! I ate a pickle and it calmed down a little. After that I knew I had to get them for my pickles. But, be warned, they are hot!

  I know I did more whole than sliced on this, but not too many. I had to make 2 batches of the liquid mixture, but I'd say I only used about half of the second batch. I put it in a large jar to use for the next time I pickle. (Use it up, wear it out or do without is my motto here.)

Liquid Mixture for Pickles

3 quarts of water

1 quart of vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar as I feel it imparts a better taste)

salt

5-6 whole pepper corns

1 tsp. of chopped garlic

dill seeds or fresh dill heads and dill weed or leaves.(Anything to impart a dilly flavor!)

1. Measure the water, vinegar and salt and put them in a stock pot on the stove. I started on medium and turned it up until the salt is dissolved into the mixture. 
2. They must sit for 2 weeks before you can enjoy them. Use this time to look into what you want to do with all those lovely pickles.(Don't forget the juice!)

I made Pickle Soup from one of the sliced cans. Here is a link for that, it is outstanding. 

Although, I made it easier(I think) with the following changes. 

Pickle Soup. (Don’t knock it till you try it

I made it in one pot. Started with the onions, added the chopped carrot. Then the water (I added about 6 cups of water and 2 spoonfuls of broth replacer (I use better than bouillon, it really is better!)  I let it heat up the broth to a boil and then added the potatoes. Covered and washed dishes. Once the potatoes were soft I added the pickles and let it cook for 5 minutes or so. I mixed up 2 tbsp. flour and milk/cream mixture and added it to the soup. I stirred and waited for it to thicken up a little. It did not thicken much but a little. If you wanted thick soup, you could cut down the water and add more milk/flour mix. After everything had a chance to simmer together I added the pickle juice. I used more than the recipe called for, but I liked the ‘bite’ of it. (I used all the juice in a pint sized jar) I used my homemade pickles, but I think store bought might be good too, just make sure they are not too soft I think. DH liked it too.

I made whole wheat mayo rolls with it. It was really good. Here is that recipe. My mother gave it to me a while back ago and I make them all the time. I'm not sure if she made it up or found it somewhere. Either way, I've never seen another like it. Plus, you don't have to use up your eggs. It could very easily be made into a vegan recipe. Use rice or soy milk and vegannaise instead. :) Either way, these have become my favorite. I hope you like them too.

Mayo Rolls- Yield 6 rolls

1/4C white flour and 3/4C whole wheat OR 1C. White self-rising flour
(1&1/4 tsp. Baking Powder  Only for using the whole wheat addition or if you are using all purpose flour and need some lift.)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 C. Mayo
1/2 C. Milk

1. Preheat over to 400F
2. Mix together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Add Mayo and Milk.
4. Stir until it is a uniform mixture. 
5. Spray a 6 cup muffin tin or put butter in each tin. Measure out equal amounts into each tin and put in very hot oven for 20 minutes. 
6. Serve Hot with soup. 

I told DH we were having Pickle Soup and Mayo Rolls. He gave me a weird look, sat down and said, “ I don’t see any pickles or mayonnaise here.” and began to eat.
So, I guess you could just not tell anyone and they wouldn’t know.
It’s a great way to use up EVERYTHING available.
If I would have had any I could have chopped up some meat and threw it in the pot too, but I need it for the rest of the month.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes for pickles, soup and rolls. I'd love to hear about your recipes also.